Category: Oscars

Yawn – here now the news


I have found a lot of the details of the recent news less than riveting.

The Sanford sex scandal: more hypocrisy from someone who chastised others (in his case, Bill Clinton, among others.) Another sobbing confession; comparing himself to King David was a nice touch though. In fact, the only real issue for me is possible is him being “out of pocket” for a week. Don’t know South Carolina law, but it’s the disappearing that seems to be the real issue. And I can’t help but think that if he HAD notified his staff and the lieutenant governor he was away, the sex part might not have come out at all.

The blow-by-blow of the joke we (not laughingly) call the New York State Senate doesn’t interest me any more. I just want them to grow up and gt back to work. Last week, I asked my wife if she had heard the big news. She said, “You mean how a senator insulted the governor?” I said, “No, that Michael Jackson died.” Don’t even care which senator said what to whom. i DO think that the governor, David Paterson, is looking more..gubernatorial in all of this, though.

And speaking of Michael Jackson, we’ve now gotten into the silly season, and most of what has happened since about Monday, I’ve caught the headlines, but am actively not reading the stories. A couple things I noticed though. Last Friday’s ABC News, which dedicated the majority of the show to Michael, played snippets of songs by the J5 and MJ; they described the first song as “One More Chance-1970” when it was “I Want You Back”. It would have been an understandable error on Thursday as a breaking story on Thursday, but sloppy on Friday. At least two podcasts identified “Ebony and Ivory” as by Paul McCartney and MJ, when it was by Macca and Stevie Wonder. The good news is that a couple of folks – wish I could remember who – who noted that Off the Wall was Revolver to Thriller’s Sgt. Pepper; less well-known but the better album.

Should Bernie Madoff gotten 150 years? Of course not. He should have gotten 99 years, and with good behavior would be out of prison before he hit 120. But seriously, it doesn’t much matter to me.

Oscars are going to have 10 best picture nominees? Whatever. There were double-digit numbers of nominees in several categories in the late 1930s (and I don’t care enough to even look it up!) I do recall that 1939, one of the best years in cinema, had a huge number of nominees. I wonder, though, that by dumping some of the non-competitive awards, it will change the character of the show. And would the nomination of, say, The Dark Knight and WALL-E (probably) in the Best Picture mix have changed the outcome last year? Unknowable, of course.

I’m watching Bill Moyers on PBS tonight, but even after that shot of Christianity in the liberal tradition, I’m convinced most people will still believe that when they hear the words “Christian in America”, they’ll assume, in the words of local pastor Jo Page: “anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-socialized medicine, pro-gun rights, pro-creationism, pro-abstinence and literalist when it comes to reading the Bible.”

Is Shia Labouef dating Megan Fox? Surely, I don’t care, but am surprised to note that I actually know who they are. (I saw the movie “Holes” and I read other blogs.)

I do care that Karl Malden died, but he’s been out of the public eye so long – one appearance on the West Wing in 2000, nothing else since 1993 – that most people thought the 97-year-old had passed away years ago. I did watch The Streets of San Francisco regularly, but save for On The Waterfront, I’m not sure I ever saw him on film. And he never convinced me to buy American Express travelers’ checks.
ROG

ROG

Tell me one interesting or weird fact about yourself, for each letter in your given name

Lorna in Wonderland, who came by my blog a few weeks ago, did this, so what the heck.

R…I had long thought that ROGER was just a random name that worked in my father’s ROG (Roger Owen Green) motif. However, when my sisters were recently sorting out some papers at my mother’s house, there were references in my late father’s handwriting to a Roger that clearly predated me. He’s unknown to my mother. Could he have been a childhood friend, an army buddy? Inquiring minds are frustrated that the trail is so cold.

O…I’ve watched at least some portion of the OSCARS very year as long as I can remember. Increasingly, it’s not to find out who won – I generally don’t even watch them in real time anymore, but what they say, how they say it, and how they look. In the early days of my current job, we used to try to tune the radio to the CBS television affiliate at 8:37 Eastern time one winter morning to catch the Oscar nominations; this was before one could just wait for it to show up on the Internet.

G…I’ve had GLASSES as long as I can remember. One time in junior high, I had to give some report using the outline written on the blackboard in the back of the room. The problem was I couldn’t READ the blackboard in the back because I had broken, or possibly lost, my glasses. So I used binoculars. Everyone laughed, but I didn’t know what else to do.

E…In almost every unfamiliar building I enter, I look early for the EXIT sign, in case of an emergency. I think that is why I volunteer to be the fire marshal for my office, even though I’ll be the last one to the exit.

R…The only reason I ever wanted to be Roman Catholic is that they had ROSARY beads, and they seemed cool. At a church study last Advent, I actually made some quasi-rosary beads, and the device I used to remind me of a pair of Bible verses I remember from my childhood,
Galatians 5:22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is
*love,
*joy,
*peace,
*longsuffering,
*gentleness,
*goodness,
*faith,
*meekness,
*temperance:
against such there is no law.

ROG

ROG

OSCAR Questions

Oscar night has been for me a must-watch for decades. This year, I’m actually in better shape seeing movies than I was last year at this time.

The obvious questions about which I’d love for you to opine:
Who will win?
Who do you WANT to win?
* indicates films I’ve actually seen

BEST ACTOR:
*Richard Jenkins-THE VISITOR
*Frank Langella-FROST/NIXON
*Sean Penn-MILK
Brad Pitt-THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Mickey Rourke-THE WRESTLER
Will win: Rourke. Oscar loves the comeback. Langella, though, would not be a shock.
Want to win: Jenkins, who nobody knows until they see him. “Oh, THAT guy.”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
*Josh Brolin-MILK
Robert Downey Jr.-TROPIC THUNDER
*Philip Seymour Hoffman-DOUBT
*Heath Ledger-THE DARK KNIGHT
Michael Shannon-REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
Will win: Ledger. The fact that DK was not picked for best picture practically assures it.
Want to win: Downey, because he had a good year with Iron Man, which I saw and enjoyed. But I’m not begrudging the late Ledger.

BEST ACTRESS:
Anne Hathaway-RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Angelina Jolie-CHANGELING
Melissa Leo-FROZEN RIVER
*Meryl Streep-DOUBT
Kate Winslet-THE READER
Will win: I can make the case for Hathaway, who’s expanded from the Princess Diaries/Devil Wears Prada mode; yeah, she did in Brokeback Mountain, too, but didn’t get the recognition. Or for Streep, who’s won twice, but not in a quarter century. Guess I’ll pick Winslet, because she’s never won, though oft nominated, and she had a good year with Revolutionary Road and this. (Although, when I went to see Slumdog, my wife was asking about Revolutionary Road and the couple in front of us told us it was three hours of whining, a complaint I’d heard before.)
Want to win: Leo, who was on one of my favorite TV shows, Homicide, and who lives in upstate New York. Yes, I can be parochial.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
*Amy Adams- DOUBT
*Penélope Cruz-VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
*Viola Davis-DOUBT
Taraji P. Henson-THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Marisa Tomei-THE WRESTLER
Will win: Henson. The movie has the most nominations and it needs a win. Also, Oscar wants to honor a black or foreign performer (England and Australia evidently are not foreign enough) – could be Cruz, but Davis’ part was too short (Judi Densch in Shakespeare in Love notwithstanding). Finally, Oscar always wants to pluck someone out of obscurity, and if you look at supporting actress winners over the years, it’s littered with “Who’s she?”
Want to win: Cruz, who lit up the screen.

Best Animated Feature
BOLT
KUNG FU PANDA
*WALL-E
Oh, please. I’m just annoyed that something like Waltzing with Bashir wasn’t also nominated to give the most deserving Wall-E some semblance of a challenge.

Best Director
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
*FROST/NIXON
*MILK
THE READER
*SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Will win: Slumdog Millionaire
“Oh, Danny Boyle,
The Oscar trophy’s call-all-lin'”
Want to win: Gus van Sant’s Milk, though Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon would be OK, too.
I’m SO relieved the directing and best picture nominees lined up so I don’t have to hear about the best picture nominee sans director, “What, did it direct itself?” again.

BEST PICTURE
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
*FROST/NIXON
*MILK
THE READER
*SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Will win: It’s SLUMDOG-mania!
Want to win: Frost/Nixon, though Milk wouldn’t displease me.

Adapted Screenplay:
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
*DOUBT
*FROST/NIXON
THE READER
*SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Will win: Slumdog Millionaire. I had a faint inkling for an upset, but it has passed.
Want to win: Frost/Nixon

Original Screenplay:
FROZEN RIVER
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
IN BRUGES
*MILK
*WALL-E
Will win: Milk. The only best picture nominee on the list, which will get shut out of other major categories.
Want to win: Frozen River, which my wife DID see, but I didn’t, when I got sick on the back end of a botched separated movie date.

ROG

ROG

Oscar-Worthy Movies I’ve Seen: 1938


Man, I was going to do this once a month, but haven’t done it since November and last July before that:

Picture:
“YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU”, “The Adventures of Robin Hood”, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”, “Boys Town”, “The Citadel”, “Four Daughters”, “Grand Illusion”, “Jezebel”, “Pygmalion”, “Test Pilot”
Actor:
SPENCER TRACY in “Boys Town”, Charles Boyer in “Algiers”, James Cagney in “Angels With Dirty Faces”, Robert Donat in “The Citadel”, Leslie Howard in “Pygmalion”
Actress:
BETTE DAVIS in “Jezebel”, Fay Bainter in “White Banners”, Wendy Hiller in “Pygmalion”, Norma Shearer in “Marie Antoinette”, Margaret Sullavan in “Three Comrades”
Supporting Actor:
WALTER BRENNAN in “Kentucky”, John Garfield in “Four Daughters”, Gene Lockhart in “Algiers”, Robert Morley in “Marie Antoinette”, Basil Rathbone in “If I Were King”
Supporting Actress:
FAY BAINTER in “Jezebel”, Beulah Bondi in “Of Human Hearts”, Billie Burke in “Merrily We Live”, Spring Byington in “You Can’t Take it With You”, Miliza Korjus in “The Great Waltz”
Director:
FRANK CAPRA for “You Can’t Take It With You”, Michael Curtiz for “Angels With Dirty Faces”, Michael Curtiz for “Four Daughters”, Norman Taurog for “Boys Town”, King Vidor for “The Citadel”

I know I’ve seen Boys Town, fairly sure I saw Angels with Dirty Faces, and may have seen You Can’t Take It with You. Either don’t remember or not loving any of them that much. The Adventures of Robin Hood, though, I recall liking and it was generally thought that Errol Flynn should have gotten nominated.

Two films that were shut out altogether by Oscar: Bringing Up Baby (Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant), which I saw so long ago that I can’t recall it much; and Alfred Hitchock’s the Lady Vanishes, which I don’t believe I’ve seen.
ROG

ROG

Oscar

We talk movies a lot in our office. One person was wondering whether a non-American was likely to win Oscars. As we pursued the question further, it became clear that “non-American” has really come to mean having English as their native language. People from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and especially Canada (unless they are French-Canadians) are considered “Americans” by the movie-going public, we suggested. This year’s nominees:

Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” – US
Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” – England
Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” – US
Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah” – US
Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises” – US
The English guy will win.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” – US
Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” – Spain
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War” – US
Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild” – US
Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton” – England
This is even more interesting; the guy who was born in the Canary Islands will win.

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” – Australia
Julie Christie in “Away from Her” – England (born in India)
Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” – France
Laura Linney in “The Savages” – US
Ellen Page in “Juno” – Canada
Only one American in the field, and she’s unlikely to win; the Englishwoman or the Frenchwoman.

Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” – Australia
Ruby Dee in “American Gangster” – US
Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement” – US
Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone” – US
Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” – England
Could be the only American to win an acting Oscar tonight, unless the Australian takes it and shuts out the US completely. (Entertainment Weekly suggests it’ll be the Englishwoman.)

Let’s look at the awards for the previous 7 years, just the winners:

2001 (74th)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE* Denzel Washington — Training Day – US
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* Jim Broadbent — Iris – England
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE* Halle Berry — Monster’s Ball – US
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* Jennifer Connelly — A Beautiful Mind – US

2002 (75th)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE* Adrien Brody — The Pianist – US
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* Chris Cooper — Adaptation – US
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE* Nicole Kidman — The Hours – Australia (born in Hawaii)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* Catherine Zeta-Jones — Chicago – Wales

2003 (76th)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE* Sean Penn — Mystic River – US
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* Tim Robbins — Mystic River – US
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE* Charlize Theron — Monster – South Africa
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* Renée Zellweger — Cold Mountain – US

2004 (77th)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE* Jamie Foxx — Ray – US
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* Morgan Freeman — Million Dollar Baby – US
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE* Hilary Swank — Million Dollar Baby – US
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* Cate Blanchett — The Aviator – Australia

2005 (78th)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE* Philip Seymour Hoffman — Capote – US
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* George Clooney — Syriana – US
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE* Reese Witherspoon — Walk the Line – US
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* Rachel Weisz — The Constant Gardener – England

2006 (79th)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE* Forest Whitaker — The Last King of Scotland – US
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* Alan Arkin — Little Miss Sunshine – US
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE* Helen Mirren — The Queen – England
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE* Jennifer Hudson — Dreamgirls – US

Every year, a non-American has won, albeit one whose native language was likely English.
***
I’m not going to change my picks from three weeks ago, though, in fact, I picked Julie Christie rather than Marion Cotillard in a contest. I would not be shocked, though, if the heavyweight vote splits between No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, movies filmed so close to each other that I read in Entertainment Weekly that an oil rig fire filmed for Blood interfered with a shot for No Country. This would allow Juno, the movie that, at midweek, had twice the box office of No Country, its nearest Oscar competitor, to win. Not saying it’ll happen; I’m just saying that it wouldn’t be the upset that Atonement or Michael Clayton winning would be.

And since the Academy will have all the glitz, in honor of my friend Uthaclena’s 55th birthday, I’ll be watching. Probably not tonight, though; that’s what timeshifting’s all about. I don’t watch the Oscars to see who wins; I watch them to see HOW they win.

ROG

ROG
Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial